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8 Common Phobias

Fear is a normal emotion, but overwhelming, paralyzing fears of particular places, things, or situations are known as phobias. Here are some of the most common.

Fear is a normal human emotion. But if what you fear is really not very dangerous, and you fear it so much that it causes emotional and physical distress, you could have an anxiety disorder called a phobia. Phobias affect people of all ages and can include the fear of people, places, activities, and things. Symptoms of phobias include panic, rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, and an overwhelming desire to get away. And while people may realize that their phobias are irrational, that doesn’t mitigate their power.

Agoraphobia: Fear of Leaving Home

Fear of being alone outside your home, where escape and assistance might be difficult, is called agoraphobia. This phobia may involve fear of being on a bridge, a busy street, or in a crowded mall or elevator. People with agoraphobia may only be able to leave home with friends or a family member. In severe cases, they may not be able to leave home at all, feeling that it is the only safe place to be. This phobia usually starts around age 30 with severe panic attacks.

Social Phobia: Fear of People

Fear of being embarrassed in front of other people is called social phobia. In mild cases it may be experienced as the common fear of public speaking, but for some people this fear may extend to something as simple as writing a check in front of another person or eating in public. Social phobias are also called social anxiety disorders and they affect about 15 million American adults, men and women equally.

Arachnophobia: Fear of Spiders

It is not abnormal for a child to have a severe fear of certain animals such as snakes or spiders. These may be the object of childhood nightmares. But when an extreme fear of an animal persists into adulthood, it rarely goes away without treatment. Fear of animals is the most common type of specific phobia. If you saw the Hollywood film Arachnophobia, you know that’s the name for the fear of spiders.

Acrophobia: Fear of Heights

This is another type of specific phobia in which a certain situation causes unreasonable fear or panic. Specific phobias, like acrophobia, are twice as common in women. These phobias tend to start in childhood, but persist into adulthood. Many people use the term vertigo to describe fear of heights, and the famous 1958 Alfred Hitchcock movie about the fear of heights was called Vertigo. But vertigo is actually the sensation of spinning, just one symptom of acrophobia.

Claustrophobia: Fear of Closed Spaces

Another common specific phobia is fear of closed-in spaces, or claustrophobia. Like other specific phobias, claustrophobia is more common in women. Specific phobias are estimated to affect about 19 million Americans. Claustrophobia may develop after a traumatic childhood event, such as being trapped in a closet.

Mysophobia: Fear of Germs

The excessive fear of germs is a common anxiety disorder in America. The medical term for this phobia is mysophobia. Mysophobia may be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hypochondria. Symptoms include obsessive washing and fear of public spaces. In the television show Monk, actor Tony Shaloub played a detective with OCD and numerous phobias, including mysophobia.

Paruresis: Shy-Bladder Phobia

A phobia that many people have never heard of is paruresis. This phobia has also been called shy-bladder syndrome and is considered one of the social anxiety disorders. People with this phobia are afraid of urinating in public bathrooms. The fear may be so great that it interferes with their ability to go to school, to work, or to travel, and can result in dangerous retention of urine. The fear may start with a traumatic event in childhood. Some studies suggest that this phobia may affect as many as 17 million Americans.

Necrophobia: Fear of Death

The actor and director Woody Allen is famously quoted as saying: “I’m not afraid of death — I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” In fact, death is the great unknown and a fear that most people share. But some people have an abnormal fear of death or of dead things, a condition known as necrophobia. Fear of death may be at the root of many other phobias such as acrophobia or claustrophobia.

Help for Phobias

The good news about phobias is that you don’t have to go through life paralyzed by your fear. When a phobia becomes an anxiety disorder that interferes with your ability to lead a normal life, you need to get help. Most phobias can be treated successfully. Treatments include a type of talk therapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy, medications, or a combined approach. If your life is being limited or controlled by a phobia, seek help from a mental health provider.